Container



Aug. Z, 1927. 1,637,333

D. E. CARPENTER CONTAINER Filed Jan; 18. 1924 By I 6&1,...

20 /9 2/ A ORNEY Patented Aug. 2,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID E. CARPENTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 DICTAPHONE CORPORATION, OI' BBIIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CONTAINER.

Application led January 18, 1924. Serial No. 688,984.

This invention relates to containers and more particularly to containers for fragile articles such as sound-record tablets and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a container which abs to the article which orbs shocks transmitted it contains by external force, so as, toA prevent the damaging of the article in the container.

Another object is to provide a container which, absorbs shocks caused by the article violently striking t tainer when the arti he bottom of the concle is allowed to fall by gravity into the container or when it is pushed therein by h Another object is and.

to provide a container which prevents damage of the article it carries when the container is forcefully placed upon a hard body, such as a table.

A further objecti s to provide a container which holds the article for which it is intended securely at b oth ends irrespective of ing a permanent pa rt of 1 the container.

And a still further object is to provide a container which has suiicient shock-obsorbing ability to obviate the use of a shockabsorbing member which is usually used in packing the containers with their articles in them for shipment.

Yet another object is to provide a container having one or more of the above advantages and yet being simple and economical to manufacture.

And yet another object is to provide an improved cloth-lined container for soundrecord tablets and the like in Which provision is made for catching dust and particles of grit falling into the Container, in such a manner that the surface of the article will not be damaged thereby.

`Other objects and after appear.

advantages will herein- In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a sect ional View showing one embodiment of this invention, the container being one for sound-record tablets.

Fig. 2 is a disassembled perspective view of the parts of the container shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fi 1 but showing the parts in the positions t ey assume when absorbing the shock of a record tablet which was allowed to drop into the container.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, the container-,when made in accordance with this invention for carrying circular or cylindrical articles, such as sound-record tablets and the like, comprises a tubular side portion 10, a bottom end-closing cap 11 and a top cap or cover 12. The tubular side portion 10 is, as usual, formed of a plurality of layers 13, 14 ot' cardboard or like material and the outside layer 13 is cut away at the bottom to allow' the bottom cap 11 to be secured to the inside layer 14 and to 10 be fiush with the outside layer 13. A

The article to be carried by the container--the sound-record tablet, in the embodiment shownis rotected against being scratched by the si e of the container by a lining 15 of canton-flannel or the like. The lining is secured to a cardboard strip 16 which is then secured to the wall portion 10 by a suitable adhesive. Preferably, the lining 15 is carried over the top edge 17 of the 80 strip 16 so that the entrance edge of the container is prevented from scratching the article when the latter is being placed in the container. This is also done so that a bevellike edge will be produced at the mouth of the container to facilitate the insertion of the article. 1

Heretofore, the lining 15 was brought to the bottom of the container, but according to this invention, the bottom edge of the lining is removed a substantial distance Jfrom the point where the end of the article is located in the ordinary use of the container. This is done so as to provide a pocket or trap for particles of dust orother foreign matter so that they may fall out of reach of the article and so they can not be carried up into the soft lining 15 by the movement of the article into andl out of the I container. This is an extremely advantageous feature, for when particles of grit become lodged in the canton-flannel linin they sometimes cause the surface of the article to be seriously scratched. In the case of a sound-record tablet, this is a serious dif.- iculty, for it impairs the recording and reproducing of the sound.

In the use of an article, such as a soundrecord tablet, the latter is stored in the container until it is removed and placed upon the machine for use. After the tablet is used, it is placed in the container by the user, where it is stored until again wanted. In re-placing the tablet after use, the operator usually allows the tablet to drop in place in the container without special care, and it frequently occurs that the record is cracked or otherwise damaged by the shock which it receives when it strikes the bottom of the container. This difficulty is not so pronounced in the case of a new tablet which closely lits the container, for there is a sufficient friction between the lining 15 and the record to prevent tablet 4from forcibly striking the bottom. But after the record has been repeatedly used and shaved the lning 15 oers no resistance to its movement, and the tablet can freely fall until it strikes the bottom of the container with the resulting danger of damage. It is ith these shaved tablets thatthese diliculties are greater, since they are substantially thinner and more liable to be broken.

To overcome these dilliculties and to prevent breaka e of even the very thinnest tablets, or simi ar article, the present invention` provides a shock-absorbing bottom for the container. For this purpose, the bottom closure part 11 is pressed upwardly to extend into the container so as to form a convex recessed ortion 18 which forms an airpocket 19 etween the bottom 11 and a body 20 such as a table or stand, upon which the container rests. The recessed portion 18 acts as a diaphragm and compresses the air contained in the pocket 19 when a force is applied to its central table-like raised portion 21 and thus absorbs the shock produced by the falling record or other article. This force may be transmitted to the air-pocket or to the table-like portion 21 in any suitable manner. But, according to this invention, this is done by means of a disc 22 resting upon the portion 21 and extending into close proximity with the inside layer. 14 of the wall 10 of the container. The disc 22 is so positioned, as will be seen in Fig. 1, as to receive the end 23 of the tablet and to space the same from the bottom end of the container, so as to allow movement of the tablet when the recessed portion 18 yields under a blow.

The disc 22 may be made of rigid material, if desired. However, in order that all of the shock is not transmitted to the re- .cessed portion 18 the disc 22 is made of and yet retains its shape sutliciently for thel purpose.

When the record or other article is dropped into the container the disc 22 ilexes, as own in more or less exaggerated form in Fig. 3, and at the same time, transmits part of the force to the central table-like portion 21 of the recessed bottom 11. If the container rests upon a table or desk, the air in the pocket 19 is compressed and oiers moderate resistance to the movement of the recessed portion 18 which as ex lained above, absorbs part of the shock. SuEstantially the same thingvhappens when the disc 22 yields, for the air in the annular air-pocket 24 formed between the disc 22, the wall portion 10 and the bottom 11 must be compressed or displaced to allow movement of the disc 22. This effectively Yacta as a snubber to retard the movement of the disc 22. The disc 22 is held in osition parallel to the base of the container y engagement with the table-like portion 21 of the bottom 11 at its center and with the lower edge of the cardboard strip 16, carrying the lining 15, at its edges. Thus, the disc can flex downwardly at its edges when it receives the blow of the falling tablet.v

The disc 22 may be drop ed into the container after the tubular lll are secured together and before the strip 16 with the lining 15 is, secured in sition. It automatically finds its place an requires no special adjustment and cannot fall out or be removed yfrom the container without disassembling the same.

To avoid any tendency of the disc 22 to warp downwardly at its periphery due to moisture or other like causes, it may be provided with a covering 26 of paper having characteristics which are different from the characteristics of the main portion of the art 22 and which are such as to cause the isc to tend to curl upwardly and thus counteract or compensate for any tendency of the body portion of the disc to curl downwardly under the influences above referred to or the weight of the tablet.

When the cover 12 is applied to the container after the tablet is placed therein, the latter is securely held against free movement 'in the container by the slight upward pressure of the disc 22 which is flexed by the operation of forcing the cover in place with its incident downward movement of the tablet. Thus rubbing of the tablet against the Wall of the container is substantially reduced. Yet, the tablet can move slightly to allow any shock transmitted to it, when wa s and bottom 11 llIU the container is dropped or forcibly placed upon a hard surface, to be absorbed.

The shock-absorbing end-closure 11, of the container is sufficiently effective to allow the packing of the containers with their tablets in a shipping case, without the use of corrugated board or other shock absorbing media at the end of the containers, which has been the practice heretofore, thus making for a savin apart from that of preventing breakage o records.

When the articleto be carried is not so -fra ile, the recessed portion 18 may be made, if esired, relatively stiff soy as to be substantially inflexible; and in this case, the shock of a falling article, or externally produced, will be absorbed solely by the disc 22. When this provision is made the recessed portion merely becomes a support for the disc. Therefore, if desired, the recessed portion maybe omitted entirely in this case, and a block or other support for the central part of the disc 22 may be substituted therefore.

The bottom of the container between the recessed portion 178 and its edge is made fiat so that the container will firmly rest upon a table or the like.

The invention also embraces the provision of a ca for the container similar in funcf tion and construction to t-he bottom cap or closure member 11, and varying therefrom only in the fact that the flange of the cover overlaps the outside surface of the container and that the disc 22a is smaller than the disc 22, so as to fit Within the lined edge of the container, and is secured to the cap 12 by a suitable staple 25. Of course, the Ordinar and usual cap may be provided, if desire and in some cases this is preferable. But, when the shock-absorbing cap above 'described is used, the article contained is more securely protected during shiment.

The container above descri ed is preferably made of paper, but it should be understood that it can be made of any other suit-A able material within the scope of this invention, as described in the appended claims.

It should also be understood that the invention is not limited to containers for sound-record tablets but that it can beused for' any article which it is desired to securely pack. For instance, it may be used for lamp chimneys or other glass ware, candles, electric lights and other electrical units, etc. v

Although one form of the invention has been speclfically described and is illustrated in the drawing, it should be understood that invention is not limited to this construction and that variations and modifications may be made within the Iscope of this invention and portions of the improvements ma be used without4 others, all within scope o the appended claims.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which Letters Patent of the United States is desired is :q

l. A container for fragile tubular articles having a bottom and a member having a pliant edge portion to be engaged by the end 'of a tubular article received in the container, said member being resilient and being supported on said bottom at a point inwardly removed from said pliant edge portion which yields upon engagement of a tubular article therewith. v

2. A container for fragile tubular articles having a bottom and a member having a pliant edge portion to be engaged by the end of a tubular article received in. the container, said member beinof supported on said bottom at a point inwardly removed from said pliant edge portion and said bottom being resilient at the portion engaged by said member.

3. A container for fragile tubular articles having a bottom and a flexible member havin'g an edge portion adapted to `be engaged by the end of a tubular article received in the container, said member being resilient and being -supported on Said bottom at a point inwardly removed from said edge portion and said bottom being resilient at the point of engagement with said member.

4. A container for fragile tubular articles having a bottom and a member having an edge portion to be engaged by the end of the tubular article received in the container, said member being in the form of a flat disk and being supported on said end closure solely at a point inwardly removed from said article engaging edge portion. y

5. A lcontainer for fragile tubular articles having a bot-tom and a disk having an edge portion adapted to be engaged by the end of a tubular article received inI the container. said disk being resilient and being supported on said bottom upon a bowed portion thereof at a point inwardly removed from said article engaging edge portion. L y

6. A container for fragile tubular articles comprising a wall formed of a plurality of layers of material; a bottom attached to the wall to close on end thereof, said bottom being bowed inwardly of the wall; a disk supported b the bowed portion of' the bottoni and con ned in operating position between said bowed bottom and the end of onel of said layers of which the wall is formed.

7. A container for fragile tubular articles having a bottom having a bowed portion and a disk loosely supported upon the bowed portion of the bottom; and means for holding the disk in operative position when the article to be held in the container is removed therefrom.

8. As anew article of manufacture, a carside-wall portions formed of a plurality o closure member in overlapping relation with the upwardly bowed portion of the closure the parts of the wall portion and flush with member. the outside of the wal portion; said closure Signed at New York, in the county of l0 member having an upwardly bowed por- New York, and State of New York, this 31st l tion; and a disc for suporting an article in day of Dec., 1923.

the container, confined etvgeen the end of one of the layers of the wall portion and DAVID E. CARPENTER. 

